Observations of wild hunting behaviour and bioluminescence of a large deep-sea, eight-armed squid, Taningia danae

Our newly developed underwater high definition video camera system took the first live images of adults of the mesopelagic large squid, Taningia danae, between 240 and 940 m deep off Ogasawara Islands, western North Pacific. The resulting footage includes attacking and bioluminescence behaviours, and reveals that T. danae is far from the sluggish neutrally buoyant deep-sea squid previously suspected. It can actively swim both forward and backward freely by flapping its large muscular triangular fins and changes direction quickly through bending its flexible body. It can attain speeds of 2–2.5 m s−1 (7.2–9 km h−1) when attacking bait rigs. They emitted short bright light flashes from their large arm-tip photophores before final assault, which might act as a blinding flash for prey as well as a means of measuring target distance in a dark deep-sea environment. They also emitted long and short glows separated by intervals while wandering around the double torch lights attached to the bait rig, suggestive of potential courtship behaviours during mating

Coinfection of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis and Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia in a Non-HIV Patient

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) are life-threatening opportunistic infections that occur in immunocompromised hosts. Early diagnosis and treatment of these opportunistic infections is essential to the survival of immunocompromised patients. We report a 60-year-old man undergoing short-term steroid therapy after surgical resection of a brain tumor infected with combined invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia diagnosed by bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage. Our case demonstrated that short-term systemic steroid therapy in non-HIV patients with underlying chronic lung conditions and malignancies was a risk factor for IPA and PCP, and for a combination of these infections

コバヤシ タケシ ト ニホン ノ インタープリテーション

Professor Takeshi Kobayashi was a leading and representative figure in interpretation of Japan. He passed awaysuddenly on March 13th in 2013 at the age of 55. This paper describes a brief history of interpretation in Japan, following thesteps that Professor Kobayashi had taken in the field of interpretation and environmental education. Professor Kobayashistarted his interpretation career at the Takao Visitor Center as a ranger of the Nature Conservation Society of Japan in 1983.He established the Center for Environmental Studies in order to focus on nature interpretation in 1988. He had also coordinatedthe Japan-U.S. Interpreter Training Seminar, which was jointly supported by the U.S. National Park Services, since 1995 anddeveloped a number of other interpreter training programs in Japan. He played a central role in those training courses in 1990s and 2000s of Japan, during which the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,Science and Technology were active in offering training for interpreters and outdoor educators. He became a professor at theGifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture in 2005 and a professor at the Department of Animal Sciences, the Faculty ofLife and Environmental Sciences, Teikyo University of Science in 2010. He developed courses for instructors and trainers ofenvironmental education and interpretation. Professor Kobayashi helped offering opportunities for domestic and internationalinterpreters to meet and to develop network. He had been engaged in developing interpretation through projects and events,human resource development, and networking, and greatly contributed to the enhancement of interpretation in Japan till thelast day

味覚受容体の検索(第2報) : ヒトの舌より分離された THTR5 受容体の呈味物質の応答性

Gタンパク質共役受容体THTR5をCHO細胞に導入し,呈味物質への応答性を検討した。THTR5クローンにおいてはGlucose, Fructose, Sorbitol, Arginine, Denatonium benzoate, Guanosin 5monophosphate disodium salt, Inosin 5\u27monophosphate sodium saltでの刺激により培養液上清中のPGE_2濃度が上昇した。さらに,Glucose, Fructose, Sorbitolでの刺激では培養液上清中のPGE_2濃度は呈味物質の濃度に依存的に変動した。以上のようにTHTR5はGlucose, Fructose, Sorbitolに濃度依存的な応答を示したことから糖質系甘味受容体であると推察した。We introduced the THTR5 of the G-protein-coupled receptor into the CHO cell and examined its response to some tastants. In the case of the THTR5 clone, when stimulated by Glucose, Fructose, Sorbitol, Arginine, Guanosin 5-monophosphate disodium salt, Inosin 5\u27- monophosphate sodium salt and Denatonium benzoate, the concentration of the prostaglandin E_2 (PGE_2) in the culture solution rose. Due to the stimulus of Glucose, Fructose and Sorbitol, the PGE_2 concentration in the culture solution rose in accordance with the concentration of various tastants init. Thus, since the clone showed the concentration dependence-response to the sweet taste of saccharide, we guessed that this clone was a sweet taste receptor in connection with saccharide

健常者と味覚異常者における味覚受容体発現

RT-PCR法を用いて,葉状乳頭における味覚受容体の発現を検討した。すなわち葉状乳頭部から擦過法により取得した組織を使用し,味覚受容体候補であるTHTRファミリー(THTRs)およびT2Rファミリー(T2Rs)の発現をRT-PCR後,マイクロキャピラリー電気泳動により測定した。40歳以上の健常者ではTHTRs,T2Rsの受容体において,多数を発現していることが認められた。これに対し30歳以下の被験者ではいくつかのTHTRsおよびT2Rsで発現を認めたが,典型的な発現パターンはなかった。さらに薬服用者や高齢の味覚異常者においては,健常者に比べてTHTRs, T2Rsともに発現していない受容体が多かった。これらのことから,まず青年期では味覚受容体が成長段階にあり,20歳の成人になっても味覚の成長は十分ではないことが考えられた。壮年期になると味覚受容体が十分発達し,高齢者になってもその味覚受容体の発現数は減少しないことが示唆された。また薬剤の服用者や味覚異常者も,味覚受容体の欠落の可能性が示唆された。Tongue tissue from foliate papillae of 22 subjects was scraped and used. The expression of THTR family (THTRs) and T2R family (T2Rs) that are the candidate taste receptors were measured by RT-PCR and micro-capillary electrophoresis. The expression of taste receptors in the foliate papillae was measured using this scraping RT-PCR method. Normal persons over 40 years old expressed many THTRs and T2Rs. In contrast, for people under 30 years old there were some THTRs and T2Rs expressions without typical patterns. The taste disordered persons expressed few kinds of THTRs and T2Rs, and there were no or almost no expressions. These results suggested that in young adults of about 20 years old the taste receptors are not yet developed. We suggest that expression of taste receptors don\u27t decrease in a person of advanced years because taste receptors development peaks in late middle age. With further assay and analyzation of expression of THTRs and T2Rs, it maybe possible to clear up factors of disturbance in taste

Study on diving behavior of sperm whales using suction cup attached TDR tag: an overview

Studies on diving behavior of marine mammals using data loggers including time depth recorders (TDR) are becoming popular these days. However, cetaceans, which do not come up to the land, have a difficulty in capturing the animal to attach these equipments. This has hindered wide usage of data loggers. Development of the method using suction cup to deploy the tag with data logger directly to swimming animals solved the problem accompanied with capture. We have applied this method to sperm whales off Japan. Sperm whales are thought to have a greatest diving ability among cetaceans but almost nothing is known about their diving behavior. We successfully deployed suction cup attached TDR tags to six whales off the Kumano Coast and the Ogasawara Islands without any intense reactions of the whales. All tags were recovered after they fell off using radio telemetry, and we obtained 1, 9, 13, 14, 17, and 62 hours of diving data. This method proved to be really feasible for studying diving behavior of sperm whales